Container lid



April 7, J, MCCREA CONTAINER LID Filed Sept. 11. 1968 INVENTOR pse uh McCrea a 2 1m f-IZQ HI 1* ATTORNEY United States Patent M 3,504,843 CONTAINER LID Joseph McCrea, Rockaway, N.J., assignor to Stapling Machine 'Co., Rockaway, N.J., a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 11, 1968, Ser. No. 759,031 Int. Cl. B65d 45/00 US. Cl. 22945 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A container lid formed of a single sheet of foldable material having at each side locking flaps which extend downwardly around the outer faces of the slats at the upper edges of the front and rear sides of the container, around the lower edges of said slats and upwardly into the spaces between said slats and the underlying lining material.

This invention relates to a lid for an open-topped, fivesided container of the type having slats extending lengthwise of said container at the upper edges of the front and rear sides thereof.

Such a container may be formed, for example, from a wirebound blank having four sections foldably secured together by binding wires, each of said sections having longitudinally extending cleats at each side, with a sheet of foldable lining material extending between and secured to the cleats of the front, bottom and top side sections, and with reinforcing slats overlying the lining material along at least the front and rear edges of the bottom section and the upper edges of the front and rear sid sections. The top section includes foldable rectangular panels of lining material secured to the upper faces of the cleats, the size of these panels conforming to the inside crosssection of the container, so that when the blank is folded around to set up the container, with the cleats at each end forming an open rectangular framework, these panels may be folded downwardly against the inner faces of the cleats to close the ends of the container.

The lid of the present invention consists of a single sheet of foldable material which is provided at each side with integral locking flaps which are folded downwardly around the outer faces of the slats at the upper edges of the front and rear side sections of the container and then upwardly between the inner faces of these slats and the outer face of the lining material. This provides an extremely simple and economical lid which may be quickly and easily applied by hand, yet which is attractive, practical and durable.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an illustrative lid embodying certain features of the invention, shown in place on a wirebound container of the type described hereinabove.

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the sheet of material from which the lid of FIGURE 1 is formed.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary cross-sectional view, taken on the line 3-3 of FIGURE 1, showing the manner in which the locking flaps are folded around the slats at the upper edges of the side sections of the container.

As best shown in FIGURE 2, the illustrative lid is formed from a unitary sheet of foldable material, such as corrugated fiberboard, of appropriate size and shape to cover the top of the container, with integral locking flaps 12 at each side separated from the main body of the lid by parallel, longitudinal score lines 14 spaced to coincide 3,504,843 Patented Apr. 7, 1970 with the location of the upper front and rear corners of the container. The flaps 12 are also provided with additional longitudinal score lines 16 (for example, rows of spaced perforations, as shown) positioned to coincide with the respective inner and outer corners of the lower edges of the slats 18 (FIGURES 1 and 3) at the upper edge of the front and rear side sections of the container.

As shown in FIGURES 1 and 3, the lid is locked in place on the containers by folding the fla s 12 downwardly along the score lines 14 against the outer faces of the slats 18, and then upwardly along the score lines 16 around the bottom edges of the slats 18 so that the terminal portions 20 of the flaps extend into the spaces between the inner faces of the slats 18 and the outer face of the lining material 22.

The flaps 12 preferably extend substantially the full exposed length of the slats 18 between the binding wires 26 which encircle the rectangular framework of cleats 24 at each end of the container, with the sheet being pro vided at each corner with cutouts 28 to shorten the flaps 12 and permit them to pass between the binding wires 26 and under the slats 18. The width of the terminal portions 20 of the flaps is sufficient that they can be inserted only by bowing the lining material 22 inwardly and the slats 18 outwardly to separate them a substantial distance so that, when the natural resilience of lining material and the slats causes them to spring back to normal position, they clamp the terminal portions 20 against unfolding and withdrawal, thus locking the lid securely in place.

I claim:

1. In an open-topped, five-sided wirebound container of the type having binding wires encircling each end of said container and wooden slats at the upper edges of its front and rear sides extending the length of said container in overlying relation to the material on said sides and in underlying relation to said binding wires, a lid comprising a sheet of foldable material of such size and shape as substantially to cover the top of said container with integral locking flaps at each side extending downwardly over the outer outer faces of said slats and then upwardly between the inner faces of said slats and the outer face of said material, 'with score lines in said sheet coinciding with the upper front and rear corners of said container and additional score lines coinciding with the lower edges of said slats to facilitate folding of said flaps into the aforementioned position around said slats to lock said lid on said container, each corner of said lid having cut-out portions which shorten said flaps and permit them to pass between said binding wires and under said slats, the terminal portions of said flaps underlying said slats having such width as to require substantial separation of said slats and the side wall material by inward bowing of the side wall material and/ or outward bowing of said slats during folding of said flaps around the lower edges of said slats, whereby the resilience of the side wall material and said slats holds said flaps against unfolding and withdrawal.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,878,351 9/1932 Walter 22943 2,597,848 5/1952 Reeser 229-14 XR 3,167,234 1/1965 Munroe.

3,187,980 6/1965 Oas et a1. 229-43 XR 1,815,565 7/1931 Hill et a1 22915 RAPHAEL H. SCHWARTZ, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 217-56; 22943 

